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Our call — vote NO
The measure
This is a legislatively referred constitutional amendment. Louisiana's four state retirement systems carry more than $13 billion in unfunded accrued liability, per the PAR guide. Current constitutional law requires a retirement system receiving nonrecurring state funds to apply them to its oldest outstanding unfunded liability first. This amendment (HB 27) removes that ordering requirement, authorizing a system to apply nonrecurring money to any of its unfunded liabilities.
What YES does
A YES vote gives the Legislature and the retirement systems discretion over which pension debt a surplus payment retires first.
What NO does
A NO vote keeps the oldest-first rule in the constitution.
The math
The PAR guide publishes no dollar fiscal estimate for this amendment. Louisiana's constitution requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to place an amendment on the ballot, and a majority of voters to enact it — all ten Louisiana measures in this batch are legislatively referred constitutional amendments. PAR presents the argument for — systems could retire whichever debt saves taxpayers the most — and against — the constitutional ordering is a protection that should not be loosened.
OUR CALL
Our call: no call.
This is a technical debt-sequencing rule for pension accountants. Paying the costliest liability first could save money; paying the oldest first is a discipline against gaming the books. Which effect dominates depends on future discretionary choices no voter can inspect today. Purely procedural and technical — no call.
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Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.
Sources
- Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, Guide to the Fall 2026 Constitutional Amendments — https://parlouisiana.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/PAR-Guide-to-the-Fall-2026-Constitutional-Amendments.pdf
- Ballotpedia News, Louisiana 2026 constitutional amendments — https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/06/03/louisiana-voters-will-decide-on-10-legislatively-referred-ballot-measures-in-nov-2026/
Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.
AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.